Anyone here own and use a Badger 360 airbrush? Does it produce a high quality paint job? Is it easy to disassemble and clean?
I’ve been using an Aztek but have been unhappy with it lately. I managed to produce a good paint job on my latest project, a 1/48 PBY-5 Catalina, but even though I cleaned the airbrush as recommended with the proper cleaner, it appears that the needle is stuck with paint perhaps. I’ve sent a couple of these back using the warranty and am really tired of doing that.
So I’m considering the Badger 360 as a replacement, but before I put down the dollars I’d like to know if it’s worth the cost.
I love my 360 and use it a lot, especially when I want to paint just a small area or small parts because the little color cup on it is real easy to clean.
It only holds about an eyedropper full of paint in gravity-feed mode and that is it’s only shortcoming. It is easy to disassemble and is the fastest airbrush to disassemble out there, other than the Anthem 155 which is the same design.
I highly recommend it if you want an airbrush that will spray in both gravity-feed and siphon-feed, but if you want one that holds more paint in gravity-feed alone, then I would look into the Badger 100LG or the Omni 4000.
Here is a photo of a quick test I did months back showing the thickest and thinnest lines the 360 will spray. This is MM Acryl flat black paint that I sprayed onto a piece of fabric.
I have owned several Aztek airbrushs and my best results were when i scrapped them and switched to badger… started with the 175… pretty good brush but when I got my 360 I basicly havn’t used anything else… In gravity feed u can use just a little paint for very small parts or touchups… and in siphon feed it works great also… gives a good thin paint coverage on your model and I use enamals mostly with no problems…
takes about 2 min’s to clean… I blow out extra paint… run thinner through it a couple times in gravity feed mode… … take out the needle. Clean with thinner and q-tip. unscrew nozzle… clean same way… use q-tip and microbrushes to clean the body… reassemble… and its ready to go again…
so far i’ve had no problems with it and i’ve had it almost 2 years. now…
Ditto from me… I don’t have the 360 but I do have the 155 which is identical except in it doesn’t do gravity feed… very easy to disassemble and clean… For close in detail I use the metal color cup that holds 1/4 of an ounce and it does very well!.. but like Mike said, if you want a gravity feed with more volume of paint, the Omni 4000, Badger 100 or the Iwata HP-CS or CR will fit the bill…
the nicest thing about any of these airbrushes compared to the Aztek is there are no nozzles to change everytime you go from full subject painting to detail etc… one needle/tip does it all!
yeah,. for me my 155 is so easy to clean, I don’t think it’s clean enough ever! I simply spray some thinner thru it, then wipe down the needle add some wd40 and i’m done. about 1 mintotal
Mike V, if you read this… I remember seeing a while back that you were going to give one of those fine Iwata brushes a try. How did that turn out?(and how have you been?)
Yes I did try out an Iwata HP-CS that I bought on Ebay and I wrote up my impression of it here on the forum. It was quite a while back so I don’t think I can find it with a forum search. I still have it and use it occasionally, but the Omni 4000 and the Badger 360 are the ones I use the most.
I basically said in my post that I liked the Iwata and thought it was a great airbrush, but I didn’t think it was any better than my Badger and Thayer & Chandler airbrushes.
I also said that I didn’t think it was worth the substantial cost increase over the other airbrushes out there in the same category such as the Badger 100LG.
Aggieman, there’s a lot of good airbrushes available but I don’t think you’ll go wrong with the 360. I’ve had mine about a year and a half and have no complaints. I don’t know where you’ll be buying but if there is a Michaels near you those 40% coupons come in handy. The store here keeps the 360 and 155 in stock.
Mikey, glad to hear you’re doing ok man. I knew it had been a while since you were going to try the Iwata and I wasn’t able to make it back to find the results. Thanks for letting me know.
